Dear Time...

Dear Time,

Please stop ticking away. Please stop allowing my babies to grow up at warp speed. Just stop it, OK?!

These days Caleb is an almost 4 year old (again, where did time go?) who is just a hoot. The questions he asked and the things that he says never cease to make me laugh. Many times he doesn't mean to make us laugh, but he does. Those are the times we have to hide our laughter.

At almost 4 Caleb still loves sports. Football and baseball are his favorites. His whole life he has never really wavered from this. He loves to watch, play and act out any and all things sports related. He has started school again this year and he LOVES it. He told me the other day that he was "one smart cookie." Hmmm....I wonder where he got that! He loves the pool, and can swim by himself most of the time. He is a very independent little boy, but he sure does love to snuggle. Daddy thinks this is just a way to win mommy's heart and stay up later. What ever it is, it works....

It seems just like yesterday that this sweet little boy was not quite old enough to go to school. Again, time....will you PLEASE slow down. My babies are growing up way too fast!!!

These days Abby is 17 months going on 17 years. She is SUCH a girly girl! I love it!!!!! She loves her babies, and usually you can assume she will have a baby in her arms, a purse on her arm or a necklace around her neck. She also loves shoes. She is always putting shoe on. They could be hers, Caleb's, mine or daddys shoes. It doesn't matter. Did I mention that she is a girly, girl?!?!

Abby is talking more and more. She has been a bit slower to talk than Caleb, but I think that is because her big brother does all of the talking for her! Some of her words are bye (said like biiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!), daddy, mama, Bubba (that's Caleb), ball (said like ba-wal), good night (said like niiii-niiiit), love you (said like la you!), come on, nana (banana), more (mo-mo), no,and bad. I know she says more, but I can't remember now.

It seems just like yesterday that we brought an itty bitty baby home from the hospital. Seriously, time ---- SLOW DOWN!!!!

I thank God each and every day for these 2 blessings. They bring us so much joy! It only took me 17 months, but I finally got a few good pictures of these 2 miracles!

Where has time gone? I wish it would slow down. I am not ready for these babies to grow up!

Love,
Mommy

Our Angels

This fall Caleb is playing in the Peanut T-Ball League at a local park. This is all Caleb has talked about since his t-ball season ended last spring. All he has wanted to do is play baseball on a dirt field. Well, he got his wish. :)

Caleb is #8 (just like daddy) on the Angels. I am slightly biased, but he looks SO CUTE in his slightly large uniform. :) He went 3 for 3 and scored a few runs (there are no outs and everyone scores). It was a great game!

Here are a few pictures of our little baseball star!

Our little All Star!

Caleb and his friend, Robert

VERY serious about his baseball game

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sliding into home!

First Day of School, 2012 edition

Where has the time gone? This past Wednesday Caleb started school. This year he is going back to our church, but this year he is going to school 3 days a week! On Wednesday he will get to take a lunch and eat at school. This year was a bit more emotional for me. I don't know what it was. Last year I didn't cry, but this year I did. Hard. I was that emotional parent in the parent meeting. Oh my.

Caleb LOVES school and his teachers are fantastic! Here are a few pictures from his first day.

First Day of School, September, 2011

First Day of School, September, 2012

Not a great picture, but this is Caleb and one of his teachers, Mrs. Carol

How 'bout them DAWGS!!!!

Unless you are living under a rock, you know that the college football season has begun. In my house this day is almost as exciting as Christmas. Michael, and now Caleb, are beyond excited and prepare and talk about this for the week leading up to the big game.

On Saturday UGA started their season against Buffalo in Athens. My brother got tickets and invited Caleb and Michael to go with him and our nephew, Davis. The left early (8:45 for a 12:30 game -- we live 40 minutes from Athens) and enjoyed being in the Classic City with all of the bulldog faithful. They took the boys to the Dawg Walk, and they were lucky enough to "high-five" many of the players and meet Hairy Dawg. This was all Caleb wanted...to meet Hairy the Dawg (as Caleb calls him) and give him a hug. Well....Caleb's day was complete pretty early on.....

This picture was published online for the Athens Banner Herald.

Our tiny dancer

Abby turned 15 months on July 3rd. Where in the world has time gone? She is such a mess, but is so much h fun. The past few months she has really developed her personality, and boy is she opinionated!!! She is talking more and more, but still has a hard time communicating what she wants other than making lots of noise. We are currently working on the words, please, thank you, help and yes. ;)

We went for her 15 month well check up, and our thoughts were confirmed. Abby is a teeny tiny little girl. Here are her stats:
weight: 19 lbs 16oz - 5%
height: 29 1/4 in. - 15%
head - I don't remember the inches, but it was the 44% -- I said this is because her brain is so big, and  Michael said it is because of all of her hair. Dr. D said neither were correct ;)

Dr. D wasn't too concerned with Abby's size simply because what we told him she eats (EVERYTHING) and her blood work looked excellent. So, it looks like we have a petite little lady on our hands. :)

At 15 months Abby loves:
- to eat -- she literally hasn't met a food she doesn't like
- go swimming - we have another fish on our hands!
- her daddy - 1 word - obsesssed
- her lovey
- to dance
- being active - she does not sit down except to travel, eat or sleep
- having her hair fixed

At 15 months Abby is not a fan of:
- changing her diaper
- changing her clothes
- when he brother takes things from her
- riding in the car seat for a period of time
- sleep - in Abby's world this is just a mere suggestion!

Beach 2012

On the fourth of July we headed down to Fort Walton Beach for a few days with my family. The place we stayed was awesome, especially for my kiddos. The pool was a zero entry pool, which was awesome for Abby. It had a mushroom waterfall,  super tall buckets that filled up with water and them dumped or sprayed, a lily pad rope climb, and an entire toddler area that was like a splash park with a slide.  Oh, and did I mention the lazy river?! It was amazing!!

This year was a busy year at the pool simply because Caleb and Abby were both always on the go. Caleb is becoming more and more independent, but we still don't feel comfortable just letting him go. Because we were both always chasing after a child, there aren't a ton of pictures, but there are a bunch of good ones. Enjoy!

Caleb played putt-putt for the first time and LOVED it!

It was a serious game....

Caleb and Davis thought it was funny to try and sleep with Grandmommy

Caleb, Sara and Davis at the pool

Abby LOVED the pool!

The zero entry pool was perfect for her!!

Caleb swimming!

our little fish

Abby and Daddy

such a daddy's girl

Daddy trying to do the lily pads

the best picture I got of these 2!

Caleb on the lily pads

Grandmommy and her grandbabies

The Fab 5

Abby LOVES Sara

Caleb at the playground at dinner

Abby loves the slide

Caleb is *slightly* obsessed with Davis

our little Abby Sue

I thought I would give a little update about Miss Abby Sue. She will be 15 months old next week -- where did the time go? Oh me.

this is her "say cheese" face

At 15 months Abby is one.HOT.MESS!!! She is constantly moving, talking, throwing....you name it. She has definite opinions, and makes sure everyone knows them. She loves to eat, and I can't think of any food she has met that she hasn't loved. :)

Abby loves to run around and play. She likes to push our play grocery cart around the house, so I am thinking a baby stroller will be on her Christmas list. Speaking of babies, she loves her babies. She will hold them, rock them, and most recently this week she has started changing their diapers. She will bring her baby and a diaper to where I am, and lay the baby on top of the diaper and say "uck." That means yuck. :)

 Abby has learned a lot of her body parts (ears, nose, eyes, feet, leg, fingers and belly button. Her favorite part is her belly button. She will show it to anyone, anywhere.

 Getting a decent picture of her is quite a task. She.Is.Always.Moving. To take her picture, you have to either....

A: Hold her tightly while she tries to escape.....

 OR

B: Accept that most of your pictures will look like this one. (Thank goodness for digital cameras!!)

And sometimes you will get....

C: A really cute picture of this little lady.

There is one thing about Abby that there is no arguing....she is a daddys girl through and through. He really hates it! (Um, no!)

 We love her so much, and love what she has brought to our family, but I do have to say that she is really cute when she looks like this.....